Yesterday I went shopping with my family. We did the usual 'We havent been ou tin a long time, so lets dress up and go to the mall.' I dont necessarily dress any J-Fashions...I looked more like an old punk from the '60s. We went into Hot Topic, which used to be my favourite store, lookin' around. I had been drooling over a wallet/purse, but I couldnt afford it so I just put it back down. A few minutes later the lady working in there kinda slinks up to me and the conversation went kinda like this...

Lady- "Do you want me to put that wallet on hold for you?"
Me- "Umm, no thank you"
Lady- "Are you sure?"
Me- "Yeah...I'm sure"
Lady- "Well...You shouldnt put it in your pocket..."
Me- (WTF?!?!) "Oh! No, that's MY wallet!"
Lady- "Oh..." *Slinks away to the counter*

Well then! What was I supposed to think about that? I mean, I've seen this lady working at the store before and she seemed nice enough...But for her to just come up like that... What do you guys think? Have you ever had this happen to you?

I haven´t had it done to me diractly, but...

When I was living in the US and we went shopping in some places, we´d have people follow us (my family). What´s annoying was that it only happened when we decided to speak in Spanish. :/ We had no problems if we spoke in English (my brother and I are bilingual, and sound like Americans).

That is so seriously annoying. It´s like they automatically assumed that we were going to steal something just because we spoke Spanish. We´re Spaniards, and therefore come from Europe--we speak Spanish but look like any other European (meaning, we´re caucasian). It´s annoying and sad, because that really reflects the sort of attitude that some people have towards Mexicans (this happened in San Diego, CA, which is close to the border with Mexico). They just assume that Speaking spanish=Mexican and Mexican= thief, and therefore speaking spanish=potential thief. Ugh. Like I said, it´s really really sad.

Thank goodness that not all shopkeepers think like that.

Never, 'cause I'm really good at it. (I'm kidding, kidding..)

You should be 100% sure of something before accusing someone of a crime =_= like before I'd say anything I'd have to actually see the item going into the pocket.

obviously she probably thought she did see it go in your pocket... And I think that she was being very nice and subtle at least. U know, not straight out accusing you, and giving you a bit of an out had you really been shoplifting.

LaiaMoon wrote: I haven´t had it done to me diractly, but... When I was living in the US and we went shopping in some places, we´d have people follow us (my family). What´s annoying was that it only happened when we decided to speak in Spanish. :/ We had no problems if we spoke in English (my brother and I are bilingual, and sound like Americans). That is so seriously annoying. It´s like they automatically assumed that we were going to steal something just because we spoke Spanish. We´re Spaniards, and therefore come from Europe--we speak Spanish but look like any other European (meaning, we´re caucasian). It´s annoying and sad, because that really reflects the sort of attitude that some people have towards Mexicans (this happened in San Diego, CA, which is close to the border with Mexico). They just assume that Speaking spanish=Mexican and Mexican= thief, and therefore speaking spanish=potential thief. Ugh. Like I said, it´s really really sad. Thank goodness that not all shopkeepers think like that.

I know what you mean. I've seen that happen so many times before. It's like, just because another person is speaking another language means that they're going to bomb the place, or that theyre shoplifting. It's so sad that we have to live in a world where people are so racist and judgmental...

Eevee wrote: Never, 'cause I'm really good at it. (I'm kidding, kidding..) You should be 100% sure of something before accusing someone of a crime =_= like before I'd say anything I'd have to actually see the item going into the pocket. obviously she probably thought she did see it go in your pocket... And I think that she was being very nice and subtle at least. U know, not straight out accusing you, and giving you a bit of an out had you really been shoplifting.

I have to admit that what she did was better then just coming up and just right-out accusing me of doing so. It really did make my Mom mad though. She made my sister just go and buy what she was going to buy and we just walked out.

My first time being asked if I was shoping lifting? It was so funny. I was at some cute little accessory shop. I was just looking around, trying to find some new necklaces for some of my new outfits. There was this really stuck up looking woman in ther that just kept watching me. When I went to leave, she came up to me and said:

"Young lady, return the items you took." really loud so every one could hear. I was just so shocked. I had know idea what she was talking about.

I said: "I dont know what you mean."

Woman: "Yes you do."

Me"Um...no. I dont." I went to walk away and she grabbed my wrist and jerked me back.

A sales woman came up to us and asked what was going on. The woman told her that I was about to steal some merchandise. The sales woman looked at me and her face said that she believed the stuck up old woman. In the end I was searched and questioned. 

I was found innocent (of course.) Then the lady had the galls to tell me that I should change how I looked because I look like I was a thief. That I lloked like trash. I mean WTF!? Who tells some one that??

RoxxaTigre wrote: LolitaButterfly wrote: My first time being asked if I was shoping lifting? It was so funny. I was at some cute little accessory shop. I was just looking around, trying to find some new necklaces for some of my new outfits. There was this really stuck up looking woman in ther that just kept watching me. When I went to leave, she came up to me and said: "Young lady, return the items you took." really loud so every one could hear. I was just so shocked. I had know idea what she was talking about. I said: "I dont know what you mean." Woman: "Yes you do." Me"Um...no. I dont." I went to walk away and she grabbed my wrist and jerked me back. A sales woman came up to us and asked what was going on. The woman told her that I was about to steal some merchandise. The sales woman looked at me and her face said that she believed the stuck up old woman. In the end I was searched and questioned.  I was found innocent (of course.) Then the lady had the galls to tell me that I should change how I looked because I look like I was a thief. That I lloked like trash. I mean WTF!? Who tells some one that??

Huh?

I have never been accused of shoplifting but I once had a burly security guard follow me all the way around the store. So intimidating!

I've never had that issue (Though once a friend of mine and myself cleared out a Taco Bell, because we were speaking a combo of Arabic and Farsi), If I were you I would have demanded to see her manager, especially in a store like Hot Topic, there isn't room for the clerks to be judgemental about the appears of their patrons, its bad for bussiness.

LolitaButterfly wrote: My first time being asked if I was shoping lifting? It was so funny. I was at some cute little accessory shop. I was just looking around, trying to find some new necklaces for some of my new outfits. There was this really stuck up looking woman in ther that just kept watching me. When I went to leave, she came up to me and said: "Young lady, return the items you took." really loud so every one could hear. I was just so shocked. I had know idea what she was talking about. I said: "I dont know what you mean." Woman: "Yes you do." Me"Um...no. I dont." I went to walk away and she grabbed my wrist and jerked me back. A sales woman came up to us and asked what was going on. The woman told her that I was about to steal some merchandise. The sales woman looked at me and her face said that she believed the stuck up old woman. In the end I was searched and questioned.  I was found innocent (of course.) Then the lady had the galls to tell me that I should change how I looked because I look like I was a thief. That I lloked like trash. I mean WTF!? Who tells some one that??

WOW. That is disgusting... I can't believe that someone would actually do that. (You know, I told my mother about this, and she says that you pretty much have a lawsuit here if you felt the need to pursue it.) I mean, my mom told me that when she was working at KMart, if an employee pulled something like that they would be fired, not rewarded by their boss. *shakes head*

Yeah, I've never been directly accused before, but employees LOVE to follow me around the store. The last time it happened I was in Hot Topic with RoxxaTigre, my brother, and my cousin, and we had two employees tailing us the whole time we were in there. They were even making attempts at small talk ("What outfit are you trying to match those gloves to?") like they thought that I would stop stealing if they smiled at me long enough. (Not that I was stealing, of course.) And the thing that drives me the most crazy about it is the fact that they do it because of the way I dress. Even in Hot Topic, where they encourage subculture followers to shop. And that just makes me mad. I think that, honestly, if you really wanna shoplift, put on some Abercrombie and Holister before you go stealing. They'll never look twice at you then.